Dunwoody homeowners question proposed treatment center

Dunwoody, GA-- The Dunwoody Homeowners Association is now joining the growing number of those questioning a proposed treatment center for girls battling eating disorders.

Neighbors who live on and around Manget Way say there are plans to turn a recently sold $1.2 million home into a treatment center for girls battling eating disorders. They've hired an attorney, Linda Dunlavy, to look into the company behind the project and delve into zoning laws.

"Those children would be receiving medical and psychological treatment in this home. They would not be leaving for any of those services. That's way more than a treatment center, that's a medically facility. It has no business being in a neighborhood," said Dunlavy.

"My concern is the staff, the doctors and the cooks who will be coming and going at all hours. What will that do to the quiet neighborhood. It just totally changes the character of it, " said homeowner Richard Green.

11Alive has learned Center for Discovery is a California based company that bought the home and has been in contact wit hteh city about its plans to house 6 girls between the ages of 10 and 17 to treat them for eating disorders.

The city issued a zoning confirmation letter in January, but City Manager Warren Hutmacher told the group it may not have had all the facts.

"I do believe that what we were told initially over the phone, and what we're learning now is very different," said Hutmacher.

Hutmacher tried to assure the crowd that the approval process is just in its beginning stages. Center for Discovery has not applied for any permits, not even a business license yet.

Some neighbors said that gives them little comfort since the company has already started work projects on the property and is already advertising for jobs at the treatment center.

After hearing the presentation, the Dunwoody Homeowners Board seemed to have its own questions and said it will urge the city to get further clarification about how exactly the treatment center would operate.

The board said it invited representatives of Center for Discovery to Sunday's meeting but were told no one was in town.